Roman Column

This lesson will show how to build a Roman style column. Tools used in this lesson include align, duplicate, and using the hole material.

Let's get started!

Instructions

1. Continue to the next step.

The column starts with a cylinder.

Instructions

1. From the Shapes panel, pick a cylinder and drop it onto the workplane.
2. Make the cylinder's diameter smaller about 6mm.
3. Hold SHIFT while scaling effect all axis.
4. Next, scale the height using the white dot on top of the shape.
5. Make it's height about 5 times bigger than the diameter.
6. Your cylinder should look like the image.
7. Move on to the next step.

Now we need to duplicate the cylinder.

Instructions

1. With the cylinder selected, choose the Duplicate tool in the upper left menu.
2. Continue to the next step.

Now we need to duplicate the cylinder.

Instructions

1. Move the duplicate to the side.
2. Scale the diameter down to about 1/6th of the original.
3. Scale the height so that it is taller than the original cylinder
4. Apply the hole material, located next to the color picker.
5. Continue to the next step.

Now we need to align the shapes.

Instructions

1. Select both cylinders and choose the Align tool in the upper right bar menu.
2. A small grid with black tabs will appear.
3. Scale the height so that it is taller than the original cylinder.
4. The black tabs can be picked to align objects along that axis. We want to the objects to share the same center line, so choose the middle tab on the y axis.
5. You should have something that looks like the image when finished.
6. Continue to the next step.

Locate the drop down menu labeled snap grid near the bottom right corner. It is currently set to 1mm. This means that the smallest amount an object can move is 1mm. Since the thin cylinder is smaller than 1mm, changing the snap grid to a smaller value will help to get it in the best location.

Instructions

1. Set the snap grid value to .25mm.
2. Holding SHIFT while moving will lock the thin cylinder to the axis it was aligned to in the previous step.
3. Move the thin cylinder so that about half of its diameter is inside the thick cylinder.
4. Continue to the next step.

Lets double check the positioning before moving forward.

Instructions

1. Move the camera to make sure the thin cylinder poking out of the top and bottom of the thick cylinder.
2. Make any adjustments that are needed.
3. Continue to the next step.

Next we need a matching cylinder on the other side of the column.

Instructions

1. Position the camera to view the cylinders from the top.
2. Select the thin cylinder and create a duplicate.
3. Hold SHIFT to lock the thin cylinder to the axis, and move it to the other side of the thick cylinder.
4. Continue to the next step.

Now we can make copies around the column.

Instructions

1. With both of the thin cylinders selected, hold ALT and rotate using the Z axis rotate icon. Holding ALT will create a copy of the selection and rotate the copy.
2. Rotate the pair by 45 degrees.
3. Continue to the next step.

Let's make copies all the way around the column.

Instructions

1. Repeat step 8 a couple more times until there are a total of 8 thin cylinders.
2. Continue to the next step.

Let's create cuts in the column by grouping all the shapes together.

Instructions

1. Select all cylinders, thick and thin.
2. Choose group in the upper right menu.
3. Continue to the next step.

We'll need a couple new shapes to make the base.

Instructions

1. Drag a Torus and Box shape to the workplane.
2. Continue to the next step.

Let's scale and align our shapes so they fit the column.

Instructions

1. Select the torus, box, and cylinder, and align them so they share the same center point.
2. Select the torus and box, and scale them down to the size shown in the image.
3. Group the torus and box together.
4. Continue to the next step.

Now we need a copy of the base to sit on the top of the column.

Instructions

1. Holding ALT, move a copy of the base to the top of the column.
2. Rotate it 180 degrees to have the torus touching the cylinder.
3. Continue to the next step.

Congratulations! You have made a Roman style column.

Instructions

1. Congratulations! You have made a Roman style column
2. Continue to the next lesson.